September 2
“God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath” (Heb 6:17). William P. White, one-time editor of Biola’s monthly magazine The King’s Business, tells this story about his early days in ministry. One morning he received a request to visit a dying 87-year-old saint by the name of Junkins. When he entered the room, the old believer, with distress in his voice, said, “For years I’ve been feasting on the promises of God, but this morning when I woke up, I couldn’t remember one of them. What shall I do?” White cried out to...
Read MoreSeptember 1
Handley Moule (1841-1920) gives this insight into the words, “Of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace” (Jn 1:16). “Quite literally, the words run: ‘Grace instead of grace.’ The image is one of perpetual supply; a displacement and replacement ever going on; ceaseless arrivals of all that is needed for the ceaseless changes of need…The picture is that of a river. Stand on its banks and contemplate its flow. A minute passes and another. Is it the same stream? Yes,…But not the same water! The liquid mass that flowed under the bridge a few seconds ago has been displaced and...
Read MoreAugust 31
Who has heard of “engineer missionary” to Uganda Alexander Mackay? Against tremendous obstacles, he built 230 miles of road to Uganda from the coast, built several boats to traverse Lake Victoria, and translated Matthew’s Gospel into Luganda. He lived constantly under the threat of violence from Arab slave traders whom he resisted at every turn. He died in 1890 at the age of 41, having spent fourteen years of unbroken efforts in Africa without returning to his native Scotland. A few months before Mackay’s death, he was visited by explorer Henry Stanley who called him “the best missionary...
Read MoreAugust 30
Can the remarkable fine tuning of the universe be scientifically explained by the concept of a “multiverse,” worlds upon unperceived worlds with an endless variety of conditions that leaves our world as simply “the right one” for life to exist? Not according to Cambridge physicist John Polkinghorne. In one lecture, he wryly quipped about the exacting standards of the world, “There is no free lunch. Somebody had to pay, and only God has the resources to put in what was needed to get what we’ve got.” In his book, One World (pp. 79-80), he writes: “Let us recognize these speculations for what...
Read MoreAugust 29
Bob Brown began life February 12, 1944 as a throw-away child in an orphanage in South St. Paul, Minnesota. Purchased by a young couple for $55.50, Bob was raised in a nominally Christian home, but religion did nothing to fill the void. He studied at the university and then married his high school sweetheart. During time in the Navy, they had three daughters. But ten years later, the marriage collapsed and Bob ended up living in the Bachelor Chiefs Barracks at a naval station in Pennsylvania. Then God brought an old shipmate back into his life. Charlie and his wife had been saved. One day...
Read MoreAugust 28
Did religions evolve from polytheism to monotheism? Renowned Assyriologist Stephen Langdon writes: “In my opinion the history of the oldest civilization of man is a rapid decline from monotheism to extreme polytheism and widespread belief in evil spirits. It is in a very true sense the history of the fall of man.” And anthropologist Dr. Arthur C. Custance observes that scholars of antiquity “found themselves dealing with a tremendous number of gods and goddesses and other spiritual powers of a lesser sort which seemed to be always at war with one another and, much of the time, highly...
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